


A Wish the Color of Blood

by darth_fluffy



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Drama, Gen, Kaneki's story is ALWAYS a tragedy it seems, Tragedy, it's a pmmm crossover what did you expect, the hidekane is only minor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3829285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darth_fluffy/pseuds/darth_fluffy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Kaneki ever wanted was to be human again.</p><p>(Kaneki's story, in a different universe.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Wish the Color of Blood

Kaneki doesn’t sleep easily that night.

Memories of the day keep flashing in front of his eyelids; Hide, unconscious and bleeding on the ground _(no),_ Nishio’s arm sticking out of his stomach (the pain was _horrible_ but that deep, sickening sense of _wrongness- that shouldn’t be there-_ was _worse),_ and…

He smelled so _good…_

Kaneki’s mouth waters.

He wants to scream.

 _No. No… I can’t eat people… can’t eat_ Hide… _I… I… don’t want to hurt anyone…_

But he’s hungry. He’s still _hungry_ and he won’t _ever_ stop….

_Please… someone… make it stop make it STOP…_

_There’s a way out,_ a voice says in his brain.

Kaneki sits bolt upright, his heart hammering out a drumbeat. “Whaa…?!”

And that’s when he sees _it._

There’s a creature silhouetted in the windowsill, throwing a shadow in the rectangular pool of moonlight on the floor, looking for all the world like some sort of cat-rabbit-ferret hybrid.

 _A crossbreed,_ Kaneki thinks. _Like in the books. Ferrets eat rabbits, don’t they?_

 _Do you know what a witch is?_ the voice says, and Kaneki isn’t sure _how,_ but it’s the... _thing_ talking, he knows.

“A… witch?”

 _In this world,_ the creature explains, _there are things called witches. Beings of pure despair, they stalk the shadows, looking for nothing more than to spread the burden of their misery onto others. Many unexplained suicides and murders are due to witches._ The creature cocks its head. _You have seen much misery, much sadness in your life, have you not?_

 _Mommy… please… take a_ break _…_ Kaneki close his eyes. _Yes. I have._

_What if I told you I could make it all go away?_

“What?” Kaneki’s heart does that funny little _stomp-stomp_ again.

_Make a contract with me and become a magical boy._

Hope. It’s a fragile little thing, a spiderweb, a flower easily wilted. _This can’t be true… I’m just dreaming, that’s all…_

 _A… magical boy?_ he thinks to the creature.

 _If there are witches, beings of pure despair, then there must be beings of pure hope to oppose them, true?_ The creature hops down from the window ledge and pads over to the foot of Kaneki’s bed, its white fur ghostly in the moonlight. _Magical girls and boys, those that fight the ones who bring grief to this world in exchange for one wish, one small miracle._ The creature twitches its ears and turns to look up at him. _Any wish you want, I can grant it. You want to believe my words, don’t you? You want to think that what I’m telling you is the truth. That much hope- you’ll make quite a strong magical boy._

For Kaneki, there was never any hesitation.

“I’ll do it.”

_Very well, then. What is your wish, Kaneki Ken?_

Tears drip from his eyes now, making small arm pools on the bedsheets, “I… don’t want… I don’t _want_ to be a ghoul, always stuck like this… feeding off humans just to survive…” His voice is stronger now, the pain in it finally replaced by a glimmer of _relief._ “I want to be a human again!”

The creature stretches out his ears towards the center of Kaneki’s chest, and then-

A flash of red light, and a stab of white-hot _pain._ Different from Rize, different from the steel, different from Nishio- to Kaneki it feels like his very _essence_ is being ripped out.

By the time it’s over he’s gasping for breath- and a brilliant, glowing ruby sits nestled in the blankets, its silver setting a cage constraining its wild, bloody light.

 _Your Soul Gem,_ the creature says. _The source of your power. Treat it well._

_Did it… did it work? Am I really a human once more?_

_And to answer your first question,_ the creature says, smugness coating its mental voice, _I am neither a rabbit nor a ferret._

 _What…_ are _you, then?_

_You can call me Kyubey._

**Author's Note:**

> KANEKI NO DON'T SEE YOURSELF IN KUYBEY
> 
> (And yes, I know the chapters are shorter than my usual length- I'm trying for lots of little chapters this time.)


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